Door handle



July 16, 1935. L, JARVlS 2,008,212

DOOR HANDLE Filed April 1, 1933 INVENTOB. law; .5 f7. Jam a6.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented July 16, 1935 I DOOR HANDLE Lewis A. Jarvis, Grand Rapids, Mich, assignor to- W. B. Jarvis Company, a corporation of Michigan Application April 1, 1933, Serial No.663,899

' 2 Claims. (01. 292 -348) I My invention relates to improvements in rotate V e s an e p ded V w O the atch bolt able door handles and latch operating mechanism, p ting door handle and shaft o my ve t on and to an improved method of assembly of the illustrating the parts in p t position d parts, 4 illustrating a modified type and size of latch op- V 5 My invention is particularly adapted for use for at n element. I

t t vehicle doors, although it, may b Referring now to the drawing in detail, in which ploy-ed in manufacturing any type of door operlike reference characters designate like parts ating mechanism; Heretofore in the art, the throughout the several views, I have illustrated door operating handle and the rotatable latch in Figure 1 an automotive vehicle door I, latch operatingshaft have been united during the castmechanism 8 and. latch bolt 9 together with the 10 ingoperation by inserting the steel operating improved rotatable-door handle ID of my invenshaft in the handle dieand then die casting the tion operatively associated therewith. handle around one endof the steel shaft or latch The door handle and latch bolt operating shaft operating element to join the parts together. of my invention is of two piece construction. The

151 This method of uniting the handle and latch 01)- handle Ill may be formed byizinc die casting, crating element requires the complete forming stamping steel or brass parts, solid brass casting, of a handle for each different size of shaft eleor may be formed of plastic material such as celment, and-inre-platingworn die cast handles the lulose or phenolic condensation products, for explating process often undesirably affects the steel ample, or of any other desirable material. Howshaft elements causing them to be under-sized ever, I prefer tomake the handle by zinc die 20 intheir squared'dirnension. casting, and have illustrated that specific em- The improved door handle and latch operating bodiment of the invention in the drawing and shaft of my invention overcomes these difficulties. in the following description. The zinc die casting It is economical to manufacture and simple and is completely formed and chromium plated, if

efficient in design. desired; and the rotatable handle shaft I I is com- 25 .a It is an object of my invention to provide an pletely formed independently of the die cast improved door handle and latch operating shaft handle I0 audit is preferably of steel or any other which is of two part construction and assembled desirable relatively hard substance, and generally together after the castinggand plating operations is-oad-mium. plated. The'parts are assembled toof each of the parts has been completed, which gether after they have been completely formed in 30 is easy to assemble and economical to manuthe novel manner hereinafter to be described. facture and wherein the samesize and design of The die cast door handle I0 has a cylindrical handlemay be used interchangeably with differ,- sleeve or shank I2 cast integral therewith having ent-sizes and typesof handle shaft elements,and a central squared opening I3 formed axially all of" the-parts may be completely formed and therein, as illustrated in- Figures 3, 4 and 5. An 35 subsequently assembled together after forming by annular shoulder I4 is formed around the outer asingle joining operation. periphery of the cylindrical shank I2 to provide I Many oth r ts a vanta will ad y a seat for the escutcheon plate 15 which has a become app throughout a reading 0f the central annular opening I6 formed therein :following detailed description and accompanying adapted to surround the shank I2. 40 drawing, in which? a I The latch bolt rotating element or handle shaft F gure 1 is a side elevation of a porti n o an I I is of squared design and is known in the trade automotive vehicle door illustrating the latch as a chill, and is adapted to engage th l. bolt Ope g handle of y invention mounted back of the door latch to cause it to be withdrawn thereon, parts being broken away to illustrate when the door handle is rotated in amanner well is the door latch. known in the art but not shown in the drawing.

Figure 2 isan enlarg d D1811 V Of the 1 1 The inner squared end of the shaft I I is adapted handle and latch-bolt Ope a Shaft Of y to fitsnugly within the squared opening [3 of the vention'shown in assembledrclation, w pa shank I2 of the handle in a manner to eifect a 7 5 of the 'escutch o plate k aw y o i usdrive fit connection. When this shaft is cadmium 5o UNITED srArss PATENT OFFICE.

\ trate' certain details more clearly. plated, it will form a surface which more snugly Figure Bis a cross-sectional view taken on the adheres to the inner surfaces of the squared line 3 3 of Figure 1-. opening I3of the shank l2. The squared shaft I I Figure 4 is an enlarged ss-sectional view is provided. Withan annular peripheral groove i1 5 taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 3,:and1 v near its inner end as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. As illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, the outer peripheral surface at a point spaced from the inner end of the shank I2 has a pair of diametrically opposed notches I8 formed therein either during the die casting operation or afterwards, for the purpose of aiding in looking a part thereto as will be hereinafter described.

The die cast handle Ill and shaft II are then joinedtogether in the following manner. The escutcheon plate I5 is placed upon the shank I2 in abutment with the shoulder I4 thereof, and a thrust washer I9 (Fig. 5) is slipped over the reduced inner end of the shank I2, as shown'in Figure 3. A compression spring 20' is next slipped over the reduced inner end of the shank I2 and a cup washer 2| having a small tubular end relatively closely receiving the small end portion of the shank I2 and an enlarged tubular end 22 is placed over the inner tubular end of the shank.

I2 enclosing the compression spring 28 in its enlarged po'rtion 22. The squared steel shaft II is then insertedwithin the squared opening I3 of the shank I2 to a depth to align the annular groove I I of the shaft II with the aligned diametrically opposed notches I8 formed in the outer periphery of the die cast handle Iii. With the spring 20 compressed, as illustrated in Figure 3 and the'parts thus assembled in position, the completeunit is placed together and held in this position by any suitable fixture desired and placed in a punch press Well known in the art but not shown in the drawing, so that the jaws of the press will close on the small end of the cup washer 2| above and below the diametrically opposed notches I8 of the inner end of the sleeve of the die cast handle. The jaws of the press are then caused to approach each other to displace some of the die cast metal of the shank I2 into the annular groove H of the shaft II, thus joining these two parts together against axial displaceinent and simultaneously forcing some of the metal of the cup washer 2| into locking relation with the notches I8 of the shank I2, to hold all of the component parts together in the desired relationship. The compression spring 20 will per- The die cast handle I and the steel latch operating shaft II are thus operatively joined together and the spring pressed escutcheon plate is thus mounted in place by a single press operation. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the manner in which part of the die cast metal will flow in the annular groove ll of the steel shaft II. The escutcheon plate may be joined to the door 1 by screws 23, or in any other Well known manner.

It will be noted in Figure that I have illustrated a modified design and size of latch operating shaft 25. This shaft may be of steel and cadmium plated in the same manner as the shaft II, heretofore described, and is provided with an inner end of the same size as the inner end of the previously described shaft II having an annular groove Il thereon by which the shaft 25 may be secured to the die cast handle I0 exactly as has been described. Any size, length, or design of shaft i I may thus be provided to fit the same die cast door handle I0, and different sizes and types of latch operating shafts may be in terchangeably joined to a single type of die cast handle.

This feature is very important, for'example, in the manufacture of this type of door handle for use in automotive vehicles which different lengths of operating shafts may be required for different types of bodies, such as sedans, coupes, roadsters and convertible body types by a single car manufacturer, although the same size and design of handle is used throughout the entire line of that particular manufacturer. In the manufacture of the door handles of my invention, a large number of die cast handles I0 of the proper design may be formed and plated, and subsequently orders may be filled for the use of these handles with various quantities and types of latch operating shafts, thus it is not necessary for the door handle manufacturer to stock up large numbers of all different types which might become obsolete due to a change of dimension of the operating shaft.

The device of my invention also has great utilityin the event that it becomes necessary to refinish the die casting handle or replate it, since in replating a single piece handle and steel opcrating shaft which have been cast together, the strippingop'eration used to remove the plating priorto replating affects the steel members and causes them to become undersize in their squared dimensions. In the replating operation, the operating shaft is also affected and maybecome oversize" in its squared dimension. In view of the fact that the necessity 'of replating a handle in production is generally determinable immediately after the plating operation is completed, there is no necessity in the useof the present invention of subjecting the cooperating chill or shaft to the action of either the plate stripping operation or the replating operation, and the disadvantages formerly arising in this connection are thus eliminated.

The method of joining the two part handle and shaft of my invention together is more economical, simple and efficient than any heretofore known in the art, and thecomplete joining of all the component parts together in one operation greatly reduces the manufacturing cost. Formal changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described without departing from the spirit and substance of the broad invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

I claim:' I V 3 1 1. Thecombination of a door handle having an integral cylindrical shank, said shank having a square sectioned opening therein, a square .se'ctioned shaft grooved near one end and disposed within the opening in the shank, an outer peripheral shoulder on said shank, an escutcheon plateadapted to surround the shank and abut said shoulder, a compression spring surrounding the inner end portion of said shank and abutting atone end against said escutcheon plate, a cup washer surrounding the inner end of said shank and having an enlargement partially enclosing said spring, said washer being provided with a shoulder abutting the other end of said spring to compress the latter and urge the escutcheon plate against the shoulderon said shank, said cup washer and shank being deformed radially inwardly toward the groove in the shaft to maintain the partsin assembled relation,

' 2. The combination of a door handle having an integral cylindrical shank; said shank having a square sectioned opening therein and being provided with anouter peripheral shoulder thereon,

a square sectioned shaft grooved near one end and rounding the inner end portion of said shank and abutting at one end against said escutcheon plate, a cup washer surrounding the inner end of said shank and having an enlargement partially enclosing said spring, said Washer being provided with a shoulder abutting the other end of said spring to compress the latter and urge the escutcheon plate against the shoulder on said shank, intermediate portions of both said washer and said shank being deformed radially inwardly toward the groove inthe shaft to maintain the parts in assembled relation.

LEWIS A. JARVIS. 

